User blog:Steph32597s/Important Rant: Amusement Park Respect
I'm back! Sorry it took so long! I just started working again. And it's been very busy so far. Bear with me. Story Time! As many of you know, I work at an amusement park as a ride associate (or a ride operator. They are the same thing). If you know the name of it, please do not comment with it, as I could get very much fired for naming it online. In my amusement park, I work in a location that received two new rides. When a ride is brand new, everyone wants to ride it. If you don't understand that, please go back to elementary school. So on Opening Day, my area was very busy. Most of us became tired rather quickly. We were stuck at the same rides for hours and only the people under eighteen got breaks. One of the new rides is very frustrating to operate and it is time consuming to get people seated properly. But it wasn't actually the new rides that were giving the ride operators trouble. It was an older ride. And when I mean older, I just mean less new. The park bought it in 2009, and it has been cruddy ever since. I'll link pictures at the bottom. It is such a cruddy ride because it has weight sensors on it. The sensors prevent the ride from weighing too much (over 990 lbs), which would be good in a not-generally-overweight country. It just stinks for the United States because, ya know. It also has restraint sensors. The ride will not work if the restraints are not properly secured. It is a good feature for kids, not so much for large people. But the problem with this feature is that the ride does not show which seat restraints are not secured. There is a little light on both operating panels that say if the ride is ready to be sent. So you have to rearrange people or push down really hard on restraints and people get very rude and pissy about it. So there was one man on the ride and I couldn't get his seat belt latched in one of the seats. So I moved him into another seat and still couldn't buckle it. I asked him if he had someone to sit with his child because he wasn't tall enough to ride with an adult. He said he didn't. So I asked if I could have someone else sit next to his son so the child could ride and he started to curse at me. He said, "Why should I have to get off because you can't bucke my seatbelt?" I blinked before I answered. "Because I can't operate the ride without your restraint closed properly and your seatbelt fastened." The profanities continued. I asked him if he'd like to speak to my supervisor, but he said that he didn't want to with a lot more profanity. He then walked off. I shrugged it off and took a deep breath. I still had a job to do, so I did that job. Ways Be Respectful Some of these things should be obvious, but you'd be surprised how unpolite guests can be. *Greet us with a smile and friendly tone. All people are nicer when they are around positive people. *Try not to complain about rules. As a ride associate, I know that some rules are ridiculous. I have to check gates before and after I open and close them. I have to height check kids that look too short whether they have a wristband saying that they are the correct height or not. I know it's crazy. I hate it, too. But I have no control over it. *Please cooperate. If an associate asks you to do something, do it. It is likely for your safety. As a general rule, no one is a jerk on purpose. *Let us fasten your children's restraints. All associates are trained to do this quickly and safely. And if you do fasten their restraints, don't be angry if an associate checks it, too. They have to. If they don't, they can get fired on the spot. It is a major safety hazard. *Ask us about our day. Or our lives. Most of us are college students. Ask us what school we go to. Ask us how long we've worked in the park. Tell us if you think we are doing a good job. It keeps us off the edge of boredom and helps keep us in a good mood. And at the end of the day, there is usually a meeting where we discuss the day's events. We love to talk about good things that happen to us. And we talk about you fondly if we enjoyed your company or you made us feel important or special. *Keep in mind that most ride operators make minimum wage and work incredibly long hours. We often are short staffed and can't take breaks on time. We work in the heat, cold, rain, wind and anything in between. If we aren't smiling, know that we have our reasons. *We aren't supposed to hug our friends and family. Please don't try and don't get offended. *We can't always control the line size. We are extremely sorry for the wait, but it's mostly out of our control. *If you see line jumpers, report them. I have to wait until two groups of people say something before I can kick someone out of line, unless I specifically see it. It's a dumb rule, but we don't choose them. *Nearly all parks have a "do not use your phone on rides" policy. Follow it. If you drop it, we cannot get it back to you until after the park closes. I'm not always nice about phones on coasters. If I ask you to secure your phone while you are in the station, then you take it out again while the ride is moving, I will just let you drop it instead of stopping the train to tell you to secure it again. And there is no rule that says I can't do so. *Shirt, shoes, and shorts are required to ride most any ride. Don't fight it. The reason we say so is because the chemicals we use to clean are harsh on sensitive skin. No one wants a rash on their butt. Just saying. *We often don't know what is wrong with the ride if it is not operating. And if we do know, we can't tell you. Here's a mini list of possible reasons: we're cleaning up vomit/poop/pee/we-don't-even-know, there is an electrical failure, the weather sucks (raining, too hot outside, too cold outside), or simply routine maintenance. But once again, we can't tell you. So don't ask. *Please don't start fights. This is self-explanatory. *Smoke in designated areas only. It's impolite to other guests, not just the employees that have to tell you to stop. These are just some. But most of us ride associates do our job because we enjoy it. In Conclusion Don't be a butthole. Just follow the rules and be kind and we will ensure that you have the best day ever. I guarantee it. Have a great day! Be kind to someone today! 20:54, April 21, 2015 (UTC) Category:Blog posts